Fashiondom's Fresh Faces

CEBU, Philippines - "Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months," brazenly declared Irish novelist, dramatist and poet Oscar Wilde. The fashion industry, while not fully agreeing, just couldn't argue with that.

In fact, given the inevitability of constant change, fashion designers and stylists usually run out of new ideas and are forced to look over to old ones. Notice how the 20s became the inspiration for the 40s and the latter became the inspiration for the 60s, and so on and so forth. Re-hashing a fashion concept, employing a slight twist to make old styles look like modern chic, is standard practice.

 That is why the fashion world is so hungry for new faces, fresh talents to hopefully become "the next big thing." There is an ever present, frenetic quest for something "new" or, well, relatively new. And it's not unusual for new entrants to start small.

Take, for instance, how the legendary Yves Saint Laurent became the toast of Paris, when, as an ingénue, he apprenticed in the House of Dior, doing mundane tasks at first such as decorating the studio and designing accessories. Eventually, however, he was allowed to submit sketches for the couture collection; with every passing season, more of his sketches were accepted by Dior and the rest is history.

 Tonight, at the Sta. Maria Ballroom of Radisson Blu Hotel, the local fashiondom will witness history in the making, as young graduates of the Department of Fine Arts - Fashion Design Program of the University of San Carlos College of Architecture and Fine Arts unveil their debut collection in the 2nd Senior Graduation Fashion Show, with top runway models from Cebu's premier modeling agency, the Models Association of Cebu (M.A.C.). Tonight's show is the culmination of years of studying style and design under the tutelage of dynamic professor and fashion designer Dino Lloren. It is to be seen who, from this fresh talent pool, will ascend into the limelight and follow in the footsteps of world renowned design giants Cary Santiago, Furne One and Kenneth Cobonpue.

 Bravissimo! (FREEMAN)